Department of Homeland Security

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Congressional Report Blames TSA for Botched Website

Site lacked basic security features

(Newser) - The TSA awarded a website design and maintenance contract to a firm with whom an administration official had close personal and professional ties, ComputerWorld reports. The site, meant to handle individual requests to have names removed from the TSA’s no-fly list, lacked even rudimentary encryption mechanisms and was not...

New Fed ID Law Puts States in Costly Bind

Homeland Security pushes back deadline for revamped licenses

(Newser) - A new federal ID law has 17 states in an uproar over the cost of new driver's licenses and a rushed timetable, the AP reports. Michael Chertoff laid out final details of the REAL ID program today, including an extended timetable with one short deadline: Residents of states that don't...

Feds to Unveil New ID System
Feds to Unveil New ID System
Jan 11, 2008 8:22 AM CST

Feds to Unveil New ID System

States get more time to phase in more secure licenses

(Newser) - Homeland Security officials will unveil plans today for new super-secure drivers' licenses but will give reluctant states more time to comply, the AP reports. Every American under 50 will have to switch to the new licenses by 2011 and those older by 2018. The licenses will be linked to a...

Anti-Missile Devices Set for Testing on US Airliners

Laser jammers slated for cross-country flights

(Newser) - The Department of Homeland Security will equip three American Airlines passenger planes with anti-missile laser jammers this spring, USA Today reports. The devices, designed to confuse shoulder-launched projectiles, will be mounted on planes flying between New York and California to assess overall maintenance concerns, how the system works on routine...

Cheating Is No Longer Child's Play
Cheating Is
No Longer
Child's Play
Dec 26, 2007 8:24 PM CST

Cheating Is No Longer Child's Play

Jobseekers flock to web for answers to professional exams

(Newser) - Crib sheets have gone high-tech, the Boston Globe reports, as legions of job seekers from would-be medical technicians to school bus drivers resort to the Web for a leg-up in passing professional qualifying exams. The result is a booming black market for “braindumps,” or exam answers. Some are...

Iraqi Officers Going AWOL in America

About a dozen have skipped out while here for military training

(Newser) - Nearly a dozen Iraqi military and law-enforcement officials have fled specialized training programs in the US, the Washington Times reports. The men are either seeking asylum in this country or are still missing—leading a high-ranking congressman to warn of the national-security implications. An Army spokesman says none of the...

Citizenship Delays Will Impact Election

Hundreds of thousands will miss chance to vote due to backlog

(Newser) - Hundreds of thousands of immigrants who have applied for US citizenship will not have those applications processed in time to vote in the 2008 election. The Department of Homeland Security failed to fully prepare for a massive increase in applications filed to beat a widely publicized fee increase that took...

Airport Screeners Miss Bombs
Airport Screeners Miss Bombs
Nov 14, 2007 8:29 PM CST

Airport Screeners Miss Bombs

Investigators smuggle in explosives in undercover test

(Newser) - Airport screeners fared poorly in an undercover test in which government investigators smuggled liquid explosives and detonators past checkpoints, the AP reports. As a troubling bonus, the investigators learned how to make the explosives on the internet and bought the parts for less than $150, showing that would-be terrorists could...

Anthrax Probe Finds US ‘Poorly Prepared’

Security firm says new vaccine, better detection needed

(Newser) - The US is ill equipped to deal with anthrax threats, a consulting firm said today, and must improve vaccines, drugs for victims of exposure and detection methods. The group, which includes a former CIA director, used several outbreak scenarios—in subways, movie theaters, theme parks and the Oscars—to illustrate...

Bushies Break Records in Rush to K Street

More than 150 White House staffers have switched to lobbying

(Newser) - Departing staffers of lame duck presidents have long filled the ranks of lobbying firms, but the Bush White House is providing K Street operatives in particularly high numbers, the Politico reports—raising a series of ethics questions about the revolving-door phenomenon. The key industries hiring outgoing Bushies are homeland security—...

Red Tape Grounded Copters in California Fires

Residents pick up the pieces after blaze

(Newser) - Firefighting helicopters sat idle as wildfires broke out across California, an AP investigation concludes, thanks to a web of bureaucracy. By the time Navy, Marine, and National Guard aircraft got clearance, up to a day after blazes started, it was already too dangerous to fly. Others were missing crucial equipment...

Bush Declares Calif. Emergency
Bush Declares Calif. Emergency
Oct 23, 2007 12:16 PM CDT

Bush Declares Calif. Emergency

(Newser) - Federal aid will soon be pouring into Southern California: President Bush today declared a state of emergency for the fire-scorched region. Wildfires ripping across seven counties have forced half a million people to evacuate. “We extend our prayers and our thoughts” to them, Bush said. Homeland Security chief Michael...

Judge Blocks Crackdown on Immigrant Workers

Nixes plan to track Social Security numbers

(Newser) - In a major blow to the Bush Administration, a federal judge has blocked a controversial program to find illegal immigrants in the workplace by tracking discrepancies in their Social Security data. A US district judge ruled the crackdown by the Department of Homeland Security would "subject employers to greater...

DHS Delays Domestic Spy Sat Plans
DHS Delays Domestic
Spy Sat Plans
Oct 2, 2007 6:45 PM CDT

DHS Delays Domestic Spy Sat Plans

House forces privacy review before local cops can get photos

(Newser) - Amid a privacy hullaballoo in Congress, the Department of Homeland Security has postponed the opening of an office that would share domestic spy satellites images with law enforcement, InformationWeek reports. House committee members overseeing DHS had threatened to block funding until better civil liberties safeguards are in place.

Traveling? Uncle Sam is Watching
Traveling? Uncle Sam is Watching
Sep 22, 2007 3:39 PM CDT

Traveling? Uncle Sam is Watching

Feds are keeping track of Americans: who they fly with, where they stay... what they read

(Newser) - The Feds are stockpiling data on millions of Americans as they travel, the Washington Post reports. Civil liberties activists charge Homeland Security with violating the Privacy Act, saying that travel partners, hotel bookings and reading material should not be in the Feds’ database. But Michael Chertoff claims that the data...

US Airports Warned of Terror Attack Rehearsals

Suspicious materials seized in 4 cities linked to 'dry runs'

(Newser) - Airport security teams have been warned to be on the lookout for terrorists attempting to carry explosive components onto planes as part of a dry run for future attacks, the AP reports. The TSA issued the alert last week after four passengers were caught with clay, wire, pipes, switches and...

Homeland Security Faces Staffing Crisis

A quarter of top positions remain vacant; Congress warns of safety threat

(Newser) - Nearly 150 top-level management positions at the Department of Homeland Security—nearly a quarter of all available jobs—remain unfilled, a new congressional report warns. The gaps, which include high-level positions at FEMA, immigration agencies, and the Coast Guard, could seriously affect the nation's preparedness for a terrorist threat, according...

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